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Commercial Actors

Bloomberg Businessweek has a lengthy piece this morning called "Branded for Life," about the pleasures—but mostly the perils—of becoming a successful brand spokesperson. The central thesis is that the better you are at such jobs, the more your life will probably suck in the long run. "While receiving a good-size paycheck, the actor behind a successful brand character enters a state of existential limbo," the story says. "He is famous yet anonymous. His face is anonymous, yet his name is largely unknown. The job is pleasant. He is fortunate to have it. At the same time, for the rest of his life, he will be saddled with the character and treated in public, at conventions, on the street, in the grocery store, like a windup toy. Pull string, say tag line. More disconcerting is that when the campaign is over, chances are, no other brand will hire him. The overexposure can be nearly impossible to overcome. He will have successfully acted himself right out of acting."